Tristan

The air was heavy with smoke and flashing lights. Loud music banged and bounced off the stone walls. Dancers swayed in skimpy chiffons, their faces heavily powdered in whites and reds, and their loud laughter reverberating around the tavern.

Tristan was scowling. He only came to this place because Edward and Cylia literally dragged him out of his room and brought him here. He drained down the mug of ale he held in one shot before he slammed it unto the table.

"Easy with the drinks, will you?" Cylia scolded.

"If you don't want me drinking then don't bring me to a fucking tavern!"

"You can watch the dancers for a change!" Edward said, and just as he did, a dancer approached them with a seductive smile, heading straight to Tristan and swaying her hips too close to him. He clenched his fists. She was far too close, her backside barely concealed beneath her transparent skirts and almost brushing against his knees. He could hear Cylia and Edward chuckling. Tristan suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up, startling the poor dancer.

"I'm going back to the castle."

"No you're not." Edward grabbed his arm and forced him back into the chair.

A few nearby customers turned to look at them in surprise. Of course, everybody knew who Lord Tristan was. And to find him getting publicly scolded by his friends was quite an unusual sight. But Tristan was not in the mood to fight back and cause a scene tonight, so he just sat back down and drained more ale.

"If you give yourself a chance to appreciate the dancers here you can actually have some good time," Edward said as he dreamily watched a blonde beauty in the distance, scantily clad in flowing red chiffons.

"The waiters are not bad either." Cylia said as she leered at a lean muscled man with black hair and olive skin serving a nearby table, dressed in nothing but tight black pants and a neck choker.

Ignoring his horny friends, Tristan only raised his arm up holding his empty cup, and instantly a young blonde boy had come to the table to serve him more ale.

Tristan kept drinking and drinking, draining all his pain away. That was the only way he could cope. When he was not busy attending council or training slave soldiers during the day, he drank through the evenings, whether in his empty room at the castle or in a packed local tavern downtown. Otherwise his idle mind would lead him to a dark and harrowing place where he would drown into the deepest depths of misery. Olivea... He quickly took another gulp, as a hint of her image threatened to appear in his mind.

Perhaps he should appreciate the dancers, like Edward suggested. He looked up towards the girls, trying to convince himself that they were beautiful, but he could not see any beauty anywhere. Because none of them was Olivea. He took another gulp.

Long black hair caught his attention, and his heart skipped a beat as the dancer whirled. He caught a glimpse of snow white skin and warm grey eyes, and he gasped, clutching at the table as he attempted to rise off his seat.

"Olivea?" he barely whispered.

"Whoa, easy!" Edward had quickly pushed him back down, steadying him in place. "You're drunk as fuck!"

Tristan closed his eyes and caught his breath. He was drunk indeed, and apparently he was seeing things as well. Of course this was not Olivea. Because Olivea was dead.

"Do you want to go home?" Edward asked.

"Of course we are going home, it's not like you're giving him a choice!" Cylia cut in.

***

It was dark inside the room. And cold. Too drunk and wasted to light the fireplace, Tristan only sunk deeper beneath the heavy blankets to seek what little warmth he could find. His hands wandered over the sheets in search for her. But her side of the bed was empty. Olivea...

Six Months ago

The Castle of Grytia

Tristan leapt down the stairs the moment he heard that Olivea had arrived at the castle gates. It had been more than three months since he first marched to take Grytia, and he had been expecting his household to arrive from Vausterland at any moment.

Surrounded by her servants and friends, Olivea stood in the middle of the great hall, dressed in a soft sky blue dress, her face shining with a radiant smile and her midnight black hair falling gracefully to her hips. Tristan's heart thumped like a young boy who was falling in love for the first time.

"Tristan!" her gentle voice called to him and his heart fluttered at the fondness in her warm grey eyes. He ran and took her into his arms, indulging in her long missed warmth... Only to be interrupted by a shrill deafening scream.

"Papa!" It was Merina, kicking and squirming out of Maude's arms, almost toppling over as she leaned out in reach for her father. Forced to break his embrace with Olivea, Tristan caught his daughter just in time and pulled her into his arms in place of her mother.

"Papa's little girl!" He tossed her in the air with a loud chuckle and Merina screamed out giggling as Tristan whirled her around. 

"Stop! You'll make her dizzy." Olivea reached out to stop him.

"Why my love, are you jealous?" he taunted, holding Merina close against his chest while he closed in at her mother and took her lips in a long kiss. His tongue found hers as the kiss deepened, and he sank into her warm sweetness, forgetting everything around him.

"Tristan!" Olivea pulled away reproachfully as his kiss grew a bit too inappropriate. Realizing that he still carried his daughter and stood surrounded by servants and guards in the middle of the great hall, he pulled away as well, unwillingly though.

"Papa, me too! Kiss!" Merina said and Tristan chuckled before he tenderly pecked her cheek.

"You must be tired from the long journey. Come, let me to take you to our chamber," he said, putting an arm around Olivea's waist while his other arm was still occupied with Merina.

Tristan took Olivea to Lord Frederik's chamber, their chamber now, and he could see her mouth opening in awe as she entered the golden heaven. The chamber was huge, the ceiling reaching as high as King William's great hall. Peach florals and gold vines covered the vast walls. Abundant sunlight reached in through tall gold-framed windows, setting the gilded furniture inside aglow. Everything was covered in gold, from the bed posts, to the chairs, to the tapestries and the mirror frames, and even the gold threaded carpets on the floor.

"This is... quite a lot of gold," Olivea mused.

"It is," Tristan landed Merina on the nearest chair before he turned to take Olivea into his arms, "and I'll make sure it is spent fairly." And then he took her lips in a hungry kiss while his hands reached for her breasts.

"Wait!" Olivea gasped, breaking the kiss, and gestured with her head towards Merina who sat watching them intently with big round eyes. Tristan groaned in frustration, and Olivea chuckled. "Besides, I have some news to tell you first." Olivea smiled sweetly as she held his hands and placed them over her belly.

Tristan frowned at her in confusion. Well, he did love every bit of her, but he would rather play with other parts of her body. And besides, Merina was still with them in the room, and it was Olivea herself who just reminded him of that fact a moment ago.

"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow, unable to read what she wanted exactly.

"Guess what's in here..." she whispered, blushing.

What's in here? Tristan blinked at her dumbly for a few moments before he looked back down to where his hands were. Something was here, in her belly?  Well it did seem bigger than he was used to... His eyes widened involuntarily as it suddenly hit him, and he looked up at her, speechless.

"Are you..." He couldn't even voice out the words.

"Mama belly has baby!" Merina sang out and giggled, and Olivea nodded in confirmation. 

Awestruck, Tristan stood staring at Olivea for a long moment before he grabbed her into his arms without a word. His body shook slightly and his heart hammered, overwhelmed by the fact that Olivea was going to give him another child.

Olivea was the core of his life. He thought he couldn't love her any more than he already did. But at this moment he felt that his whole body would burst with a new intense surge of love that warmed him, yet scared him at the same time...

***

It was late in the afternoon, when Tristan had finished training his boys in the courtyard. He was already tired, and he could tell that Cylia was tired as well as she walked quietly next to him back to the keep. Cylia was never quiet, and she would never miss a chance to tease him. But now for once, she was keeping her foul mouth shut. Perhaps he could tell her about Olivea's pregnancy, since she didn't seem to have the energy to be an asshole now.

"Cylia?" he called hesitantly and she only grunted in response. "Did you have a chance to speak with Olivea today after she arrived? I mean, did she tell you anything?" he asked, only to receive a narrowed stare from Cylia.

"Why? What have you done already?"

Tristan chuckled. Apparently Cylia had instantly thought that he did something to upset Olivea, and that he was trying to find out if Olivea had complained to her.

"Well... I..." he hesitated.

"Speak!" Cylia snapped.

"She's pregnant."

Cylia stopped walking suddenly, and she looked up at Tristan with round eyes.

"Seriously?" She almost gasped. It was one of the rare times when he could see the warmth in her brown eyes, especially that they seemed to sparkle with rising tears now.

"Why would I lie about that?"

"You fucking bastard!" Cylia suddenly burst into laughter, and without warning, she had leapt at Tristan with a smothering hug.

"Congratulations man!" She squeezed him and patted his back, a bit too hard. "This is fucking awesome news!"

Tristan laughed as well as he closed his arms around Cylia's small body. It was a very rare moment, when they were not arguing or enjoying taunting each other.

"You fucker! And you left her all day for a shitty training?" Cylia backhanded his shoulder as she broke the hug. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go see your wife, jerk!" She scolded, and he realized that Cylia could never remain sweet for more than a few seconds. However, he gratefully accepted her suggestion and hurried back to the keep, eager to go home quickly to a warm bath and a beautiful wife...

But something seemed off as Tristan entered the great hall. The servants either looked up at him in silent concern or hurried away avoiding eye contact. A couple of girls whispered in the corner, and as he turned to look at them they quickly scurried away, disappearing from sight.

"What's going on?" Tristan turned to Cylia as she walked in behind him, and she only shrugged in response, her face as confused as Tristan's.

"My Lord!" Klara called out as she appeared at the top of the stairs, a horrified look on her face. Tristan froze as his eyes caught the deep red blotches all over her pale blue gown. And the next moment she disappeared again beyond the stairs.

"The fuck!" Cylia gasped, and in an instant she was running up the stairs behind Klara.

Tristan still stood frozen in his place for a moment, breathing heavily as the deafening sound of his own heartbeats pounded within his ears. He did not even want to guess what was going on. And he could only drag his feet across the floor and up the stairs, trying not to fall as his whole body shook terribly.

Distant cries reached him as he walked through the passage that led to his chamber. The door was open, servants and healers running in and out, their gowns stained in the same deep red blotches as Klara's. The door came closer as his legs numbly took him to the chamber. He stopped at the entrance. And his heart sank.

A deep pool of blood had grown in the middle of the chamber, surrounded by red footprints and red discarded towels all over the floor. Sobs and whimpers filled the room. The bed was cut off from view by the crowd of maids and healers that surrounded it. Cylia stood among them, crying. Cylia never cried.

"Lady Olivea!" one of the maids wailed as she bent over the bed, apparently where Olivea lay. Tristan quickly pushed in between the maids and they instantly moved away as they noticed his presence. A path opened before him, and he could clearly see the bed and its contents.

Olivea lay shuddering, her face pale, her eyes rolling, and her body drenched in deep red all the way from her belly down the length of her legs...

***************

So, yes this was how Olivea died :( 

What do you think of Tristan's character so far?

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